


Heart Over Mind

by PyroQueenOfFire



Category: Dollhouse
Genre: F/M, There is sex in this at times, There is some blood and violence but not graphic, This is an angsty piece of work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-19
Updated: 2012-10-19
Packaged: 2017-11-16 14:46:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/540609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PyroQueenOfFire/pseuds/PyroQueenOfFire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Topher Brink has lost so much more than he will ever admit, and Ashlyn Groves or Summer as she is called in the Dollhouse, is a doll far different than Alpha or Echo; Topher/OC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Topher and Ashlyn

"Did I fall asleep?" Summer asked, looking at Topher.

The young man looked defeated, but he forced a smile and nodded. "For a little while…"

"Shall I go now?" Summer asked him gently, feeling a strong connection with him.

"If you like," Topher managed to get out.

The Dollhouse was supposed to be a secret, more or less. Of course there were clients who would come with huge sums of money and pay for Actives to play with for a day or a weekend, but Ashlyn Groves was different. She heard about the Dollhouse by word of mouth because her best friend used it every once in awhile when she was in her slump of feeling tired of being single—she used it as a pick-me-up. Ashlyn Groves and Remy Ferris couldn't keep secrets from each other and while Remy wasn't supposed to tell…she did.

Both young women had a strong bond that no one could break.

Still, Ashlyn was a mother bear at heart and when she felt like her friends and family were being threatened, she got aggressive and so she researched the Rossum Corporation. She wanted nothing more than to understand what it was that Remy had gotten herself into and amongst her research she found the name that changed everything for her: Topher Brink. He was a top scientist, young, and she was more than a little curious about him…so she used her connections to get into the Dollhouse.

It looked like a nice enough place and the Actives walking around were friendly, Ashlyn recognizing one of them but they didn't recognize her. She didn't talk to him because then Remy's cover might be blown, if it wasn't already—she was sure that Rossum had already figured out everything there was to figure out about her. Still, Ashlyn met with Adelle DeWitt and she smiled politely, smoothing down her skirt as she sat and just nodded when Adelle offered her tea.

"Everyone seems very peaceful," Ashlyn offered with a smile as she ran her fingers through her dark curls nervously. "It's hard to think that any of them could do anything, good or bad. They're so…innocent and pure."

Adelle smiled at her. "That's the whole idea."

"I should be up front with you about why I'm here," Ashlyn told her.

"By all means," Adelle said as she sipped her tea. "I want you to be honest and open."

Ashlyn nodded gently. "I'm not here to hire an Active for a day…I'm here to see how much it would cost me to get Topher for a day. He has an assistant, doesn't he? Someone that could do his job for him? Perhaps I could just have him for the night? Not in a romance scenario but just…I'm fascinated by him."

Adelle was caught off guard by Ashlyn's request, but in granting it even without talking to Topher about it first, that was really where the whole story began, and yet…there was so much more to it. Every memory that Ashlyn had with Topher was important to her and vice versa, but because of a sincerely traumatic experience, Ashlyn wanted to be wiped—she _wanted_ to be an active. Topher was firmly against it because she was his and they had something special, but it wasn't his choice…not when she signed a contract to give the Los Angeles Dollhouse 5 years of her life.

It was then, that Ashlyn Groves became Summer the Active, and Topher Brink lost everything.


	2. Ashlyn and Summer

**Ashlyn and Topher – 2006**

Topher was more than a little intrigued by getting called out by name to spend the day with some client that was probably twice his age and only interested in one thing. He was mad enough at Adelle right now, being told that he was to go because of her familiar connections but he wasn't afraid of her, he wasn't. She was probably just some stubborn, spoiled rich girl that thought that she could get away with anything that she wanted to get away with and Topher wasn't about to be some toy for her.

Not at all.

Still, his job was on the line so he was doing as he was told, going to the café that he was supposed to meet this Ashlyn Groves at and sat down. He was mumbling to himself about one thing or another when Ashlyn came in, clad in sandals, jeans and a rather geeky t-shirt for just some random spoiled rich girl. She smiled a bit at how cute he was just talking to himself as the waitresses looked on with looks on their faces, one of them smiling brightly at her—Jenna Groves, Ashlyn's little sister, younger only by two years.

"Ashlyn!" Jenna called out.

Ashlyn smiled and adjusted her earrings and her necklace as Topher froze in place and stopped mumbling to himself. He was tense and it made Ashlyn giggle a little and she sat down right next to him, which made him tense up even more if that was even possible. When he turned to look at her though, he found himself tongue-tied because she was not at all what he had expected her to be—not by a long shot. For one, she was about his age he gauged and she was wearing a Star Trek t-shirt.

Another thing about Ashlyn, was that she was beautiful—perhaps not to everyone that came in contact with her, but to Topher she was. She had dark curls in her shoulder blade length hair, a dazzling smile and her nose was just…adorable. Ashlyn wasn't perfectly fit, but she wasn't over weight either—she was tall and slender and she was blushing because he was just staring at her. This made Jenna laugh as she brought over the coffee pot and set it in front of her older sister, knowing that it was her usual drink of choice in this place.

"Staring is impolite," Jenna whispered to Topher.

All Jenna knew was that Ashlyn was on a blind date of a sorts—meeting an online suitor. Ashlyn didn't want Jenna to know anything about the Dollhouse and Topher seemed like the nerdy sort to be a dating website even though Jenna never would have thought that that was Ashlyn's thing. Still, she had been told that Ashlyn liked him and that was enough for her. It didn't matter to her as long as Ashlyn was happy because after taking care of everyone else, it was important that she take care of herself.

"TOS," Topher said, meeting Ashlyn's eyes and smiling a bit, a wide grin that Ashlyn would soon find herself fond of.

Ashlyn nodded and didn't take away the eye contact. "It is the original, therefore it is the best."

"I don't know," Topher said testing her, "I mean TNG…"

"TOS…"

"Yeah, TOS,"

"Your eyes are perfectly brown," Topher found himself saying and then he chuckled awkwardly. "I am staring and I can't stop."

"Do I have something in my teeth? I had an orange before I got here," Ashlyn admitting, blushing even redder as her hand flew up to her mouth.

Topher started shaking his head. "No, no, I—no, you're perfect. I…food. We should get some food."

"I agree," Ashlyn said beaming. "Do you like pancakes? Good…Jenna? Topher and I will have my usual."

xx

**Summer – 2009**

Summer always found herself feeling a bit dazed after a memory wipe and even then it never took away her feelings for Topher—not once. While she certainly couldn't remember any specifics, she knew that there was something there and she tried to be close to him as much as possible even when she knew he didn't want her near. Topher was just the programmer and as far as everyone else knew, he didn't care what happened to the Actives as long as they took to his memory implantations.

This wasn't true.

On a level, Topher had always cared, he was just so proud of his technical prowess in this department that he seemed amoral. He did as he was told and he was proud, yes, but he didn't want anything bad to happen to the Actives and he certainly hadn't wanted Ashlyn to become one. Every time Summer came around him he was torn and even though he did use her to her utmost potential when he was ordered, he had always wondered about her contract: she was never involved in a romance engagement.

Almost all of the other Actives had been part of a romantic engagement, but not Summer, not once and Topher didn't understand it. Summer was beautiful and brilliant and no…no, that was Ashlyn. Ashlyn was the perfect woman and in a moment of weakness she had run to Adelle DeWitt and gotten herself imprinted on a wedge and that was all that Ashlyn was anymore, a wedge and Topher had done that to her. He would never forgive himself for it and was actually glad that he had never had to send Summer off to be used for sex by some wealthy bureaucrat…but he wondered why that was. He would have picked her—well, he would have picked Ashlyn.

"She's back," Ivy said with a gentle shake of her head.

Ivy was Topher's assistant in the Dollhouse and while she didn't know the entire history behind Ashlyn and Topher, she knew that Topher didn't like Summer. She didn't even know what Summer's real name had been, all she knew was that for some reason Topher tensed up around her and she never asked—Topher didn't like to share intimate details of his life with anyone, so he certainly wasn't going to share any with Ivy. Sometimes Ivy thought that something was wrong with Summer, but Summer never gave anyone any reason to send her to the Attic…the broken doll graveyard.

"Summer…" Topher said, having by now gotten over his initial want to call her 'Ashlyn'—she wasn't Ashlyn anymore.

Summer looked at him warmly, Ivy having just left the room. "I wish to help if I can."

"There's nothing for you to do, I have an assistant," Topher reminded her, motioning towards where Ivy had just been. "Why don't you go for a swim?"

"I do enjoy swimming...but…" she said gently. "I am drawn here every day. Is that not right?"

Topher looked at her in the yoga pants and tank top and shook his head. "No, it's not right. I don't need your help and I don't want it."

"I just want you to be happy and safe…I don't know why," Summer responded with a nod. "I will swim now if that is what you want."

"That's what I want!" Topher exclaimed and hung his head.

Summer hadn't even flinched at his raised voice, just noted that he was upset and nodded and left, going to get a swimsuit on and swim. She was almost like every other active, but Topher had noticed from the start that she had been drawn to him and he had a theory about that that just made it all that much worse. There was this thing called 'grouping', where Actives would be drawn to each other even in the childlike 'doll' state and because of her feelings for Topher, she was grouping toward him. Didn't that mean that Ashlyn's love for him was still there?

Shaking the thoughts away, Topher went back to what he was doing, but he couldn't help but look at the surveillance cameras and watch as Summer dove into the pool like that. He could remember every moment that the two had spent together, but she had begged him to erase all of it and he couldn't talk her out of it. Then she went to Adelle behind his back and since Adelle was his boss and Ashlyn had signed that contract…now she was a doll—she was Summer. She wasn't in a normal rotation and seeing her everyday just reminded Topher of just how much he had lost.

"I just wish I could hate her," he admitted slowly out loud.

xx

**Ashlyn and Remy - 2007**

"REMY!" Ashlyn cried out.

There were tears streaming down her face, blurring her vision, but despite the man with the gun, she was going over to Remy's body. The gunshot to her abdomen had to be looked at and Ashlyn was a nurse, she could do this…right? As Remy had gone down though, her head had hit the corner of the convenience store counter and she was bleeding out right there on the floor. Ashlyn was choking back sobs as she started tending to her wounded friend, not even caring if she was going to get shot or not.

"Remy, baby bear, can you hear me?" Ashlyn asked as the shooter fled.

Remy tried to talk but there was blood in her mouth and Ashlyn started screaming at the store clerk to call 911. She had seen the shooter and she could easily identify him, but right now all that mattered was saving Remy's life and Ashlyn had to do that…she just had to. So, she got a razorblade out of her purse and a straw from down the aisle as another costumer handed her what she needed, slicing into Remy's neck and getting the cut straw in there to alleviate the pressure until the ambulance arrived and they could do a better job.

When it got there, Remy was on the verge of passing out, already in shock of the accident and Ashlyn rode the whole way with her, having called Topher in hysterical tears. Topher had been granted the leave because Adelle put her clients first and she thought of Ashlyn as a client—she had no idea that there was a chance that Ashlyn would become one of her dolls in her Dollhouse. She and Topher had a bond that no one understood and Adelle wanted him to be there for the woman that he loved not just because she was a 'client', but because it would help Topher to stay focused on his work.

"Baby," Topher said affectionately as he got to the hospital.

Ashlyn was outside of Remy's room because she wasn't immediate family and she also wasn't able to be her nurse. She had dried blood on her hands and she was still crying, smiling a little though when she saw Topher hurrying over to her. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back and not even caring if she got blood on him. This was traumatic for her and he was here as her boyfriend and the man that loved her, and all that mattered was calming her down.

"They won't let me help her," Ashlyn sobbed into his chest, fisting his shirt in her frustration. "They're just making me wait out here."

Topher nodded and pulled back a little, cupping her face and making her look up at him. "Once they've done the initial part, you can help her—I will help you to help her. I promise you that."

xx

**Summer – 2009**

Summer's primary engagements were reading to children, giving speeches and doing what she did best: nursing. She was imprinted with some of the most extensive knowledge of other renowned surgeons and doctors and that was the only time that Topher enjoyed his job. Being a nurse was the one thing that Ashlyn had loved the most in her life besides Topher and when Topher got to give her that knowledge it was both a beautiful and tragic moment for him. He got to see a glimpse of Ashlyn for a moment even though that wasn't her name at the time and then he had to remember that she was gone…just the wedge he kept in his room in the Dollhouse so that no one else could touch her.

"If I hadn't been there, that boy would still have a Barbie leg up his nose," Summer was explaining to him as she sat in the chair. "After my treatment, I intend to go back and sit with him a little bit as he recovers. I assure you, he will never do that again."

This was no ordinary chair, though—this was where Topher did the memory wipes and gave each Active their new imprints. It was also the chair that they had all once been real people and had come in to have the Active wiring put inside their brains that made this whole process even possible. Each time Summer came in she just trusted Topher to do what he was supposed to do…she trusted him more than her Handler and that was saying something. Her Handler never said anything about it because she knew the story behind Summer's existence enough to know that at least this need to be close to Topher was because her real counterpart had been in love with him.

It reminded them all that the Actives were real people and that was what got some sent to the Attic.

So, instead of telling anyone, Clara Aegis and Topher Brink kept it to themselves. He may have hated Ashlyn's choice and he may hate to be reminded of her constantly, but he didn't want her to end up in the Attic and neither did her Handler. She wasn't another Alpha and Topher wasn't about to insinuate that she was, she was just grouping and she was bonded to him and something that she had said as Ashlyn had stuck to him about brains…and about how not every individual one is the same. Perhaps part of Ashlyn was just always there regardless of the memory wipes and the only way she held on was through Topher.

"Did I fall asleep?" Summer asked as the chair tilted her up into a sitting position.

Topher nodded and smiled sadly. "For a little while…"

"May I stay a little while?" Summer asked Topher as she looked at him.

"What?" Topher asked, caught off guard.

Summer got out of the chair and stepped up close to Topher, looking down and gently taking his hand in hers. Topher's heart started to beat fast in his chest as she did that and he found himself holding her hand back even though this was destroying him. She wasn't the woman that he loved and yet that love she had for him was still there and it was making him even more upset than it was making him happy in that solitary moment. So he nodded and then let her hand go and fled the room.

"Topher, this is not a good time," Adelle told him in her British accent as she spoke with Boyd, Echo's Handler.

Topher spoke anyway. "The day I turned Summer into a doll you told me that I was allowed to review her file and I was too upset to do it, but I want it. I want to look at it."

xx

**Ashlyn and Topher – 2006**

"Why did you pick me?" Topher asked her suddenly.

He and Ashlyn had been having a really good day and the two kept laughing and blushing and talking about all sorts of high tech and nerdy things, and yet…he couldn't let his guard down completely. Sure, her looks, charms and knowledge of nuclear physics had disarmed him, but she had _paid to date him_ today. Ashlyn had gone into the Dollhouse and asked for him by name and bought him like he was just another Active and he was a person.

"You mean why did I go in there and come out with you instead of someone I could program?" Ashlyn asked him as they both balanced on a sidewalk edge. "Because I wanted something real and I wanted you. Why else would I do it?"

Topher shrugged a little bit. "To get me to divulge company secrets maybe?"

"Please, I am not a good enough person to want you to shut down your operation," she told him as she balanced gracefully and walked up to him, up close. "I saw your picture in my research of the Rossum database and I thought you were the exact kind of sexy nerd I'd been looking for. So…I wanted you instead of some Active I could program to be like what I thought you were like."

She smiled when he swallowed a little bit and decided that her forward moment was enough for now and took a step back, but Topher took a step forward. Ashlyn had smelled of cherry blossoms and olive oil and he wondered if she cooked and wanted to know what brand of shampoo she used. There was also a slight hint of tangerine in there so she had to frequent one of the local Bath and Body Works, he guessed. Still, he had liked having her up close to him, especially when she had told him that it was because he was smart and what? She found him _attractive_? Did she say… _sexy_?!

"Topher…"

"Ashlyn…"

Before she even knew what was happening, Topher had cupped her face and brought her in for a kiss, making her lose her balance. He caught her though as they both stumbled and she grabbed a hold of his jacket as he started apologizing profusely, leading him over to the grass and pressing her lips to his again to silence his babbling. It was cute and she found him all the more attractive when he did it, but right then, all that mattered was their lips crushing together. She hadn't actually expected a real date out of this, but Topher was attracted to her and she was attracted to him and she giggled a little when he pulled back, placing one more quick kiss to his mouth that he was too blissfully stunned to return.

"I still have you for eight more hours…" Ashlyn whispered, kissing his nose affectionately and then slipping her hand into his, their fingers interlacing.

Topher smiled and nodded. "I wish we had more time…"

**Author's Note:**

> **Feedback is always appreciated!**


End file.
